Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Increases Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 250,525 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,821 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $24,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,894,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,368,378,000 after purchasing an additional 416,853 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,067,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,698,096,000 after purchasing an additional 8,933,912 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $731,843,000. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.1% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 6,987,454 shares of the company's stock worth $629,220,000 after purchasing an additional 278,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 108.4% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,682,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $551,367,000 after buying an additional 2,955,442 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $240,228.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,220,874.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $240,228.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,220,874.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total value of $1,636,988.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,439,929.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,490 shares of company stock worth $4,486,063. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL traded down $0.61 on Friday, reaching $105.73. 3,802,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,322,314. The company has a 50-day moving average of $102.11 and a 200-day moving average of $95.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90. The firm has a market cap of $86.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 470.19%. The company had revenue of $5.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.